Newport man jailed for laundering cash

Luke Postians, 30, of Ashleigh Road, Newport, attempted to cover up his use of more than £20,000 in laundered money over a nine-month period, by buying cars and getting three acquaintances to obtain insurance for them in their names, Newport Crown Court was told.

Stacey Seymour, 26, of Somerton Road, Paulette Sutton, 44, of Dorset Crescent, and 30-year-old Ryan Meakin, of Royston Crescent, all from Newport, also appeared with Postians, each charged with making false statements to obtain insurance.

Postians was arrested on a drugs matter in August 2009, and when police searched his home they found £4,675 cash and a CS gas canister.

A detailed financial investigation followed which revealed he bought cars with laundered money which had been insured by Seymour, Sutton and Meakin to try to cover Postians’ tracks.

All four defendants pleaded guilty to the offences.

Postians had not worked since 2006 and Judge John Rogers told him it was quite clear that during part of that time – December 2008 to August 2009 – he lived on the proceeds of criminal activity.

“You used more than £20,000 of laundered money and took deliberate and very clear steps to hide the fact you had that money, by buying cars and persuading the other three defendants to provide false information in order to cover your tracks,” he said.

Postians was jailed for 21 months for each money laundering charge, to run concurrently, and six months for possession of the CS gas canister, to run consecutively, a total of 27 months.

Seymour and Sutton each received 12-month community orders and must do 250 hours’ unpaid work, wear a tag, and observe a 7pm-6am curfewfor three months.

Meakin also received a community order, with 150 hours’ unpaid work.

Judge Rogers told them they have “a somewhat limited grasp of behaving honestly and dealing either with insurance companies or the police”.